TalkTalk once told GCHQ: Cyberattack? We'd act fast – to get sport streams back up

National Cyber Crime Unit spills on pre-2015 megahack convo

Updated Prior to its disastrous 2015 mega hack, UK ISP TalkTalk had told British spies at GCHQ that should an attack occur, its main focus would be to restore "online sports streaming", according to the head of operations at the country's National Cyber Crime Unit.

Speaking at the Cyber Security in Healthcare event at the UK Health Show in London, Mike Hullett said all the major telcos had been surveyed by the spooks prior to the hack that affected 157,000 TalkTalk customers' personal details.

"They were all asked what they would need to stand up after an attack," he said. TalkTalk responded its live sports streaming, as it was most concerned about being able to maintain a competitive advantage against BT. "That is a company with its priorities wrong."

It transpired that just before the hack, the company had been advertising for an information security officer.